


knives drawn, the butcher world waited outside

by mikotoh



Series: ive been down on my knees, and you just keep on getting closer [3]
Category: Red Dead Redemption (Video Games)
Genre: ACAB, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Developing Relationship, Dog Cops, Eating, Falling In Love, Fast Food, First Dates, Food, Gay John Marston, Getting to Know Each Other, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, M/M, Mild Language, Morston Week 2020, No Smut, Past Violence, Police Brutality, Scars, Talking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-12
Updated: 2020-08-12
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:14:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 743
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25854202
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mikotoh/pseuds/mikotoh
Summary: John and Arthur go on a lunch date.(Wasn't written with Morston Week 2020 in mind to be honest, but it fits day 4's prompt 'scars' anyway, thus why I'm posting the rest of the fic I have done today as well to get to this section.)
Relationships: John Marston/Arthur Morgan
Series: ive been down on my knees, and you just keep on getting closer [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1874416
Comments: 6
Kudos: 28
Collections: Morston Week 2020





	knives drawn, the butcher world waited outside

**Author's Note:**

> tw for past homophobic violence and police brutality

Arthur really could not fathom how the twig of a man sitting across from him could eat so much and yet not gain a single pound.

They'd been on a few dates by now to various different restaurants, and it was the same every time.

At first Arthur was worried it was because John couldn't afford to eat, but that didn't seem to be the case.

This guy was just weird.

Instead of working on his own food, Arthur found himself completely enamored while watching John shovel burgers and fries into his mouth, a dumbstruck smile crossing his face as he rested his chin against his hand.

Once John felt the eyes on him he looked up from his food and frowned.

"What?"

Arthur snapped back to reality then, and tried to push back the goofy smile that had been plastered across his face.

"Huh?"

"You're starin' at me."

"Oh, sorry. Just… thinking."

John raised an eyebrow then, before grabbing a French fry drowning in ketchup and popping it in his mouth. A bit of the condiment splattered onto the side of his face.

"You think too much."

Arthur smiled and reached over to wipe off the ketchup with his thumb, sticking it in his mouth afterward.

"Well, one of us has to."

The younger man scoffed at Arthur's remark, even as his cheeks grew pink from seeing him suck off his thumb.

Arthur watched him carefully as he finally picked up his own burger.

"... How'd you get those scars?"

John blinked a couple times in response before looking away, twirling a strand of hair around one finger.

"Got attacked by a dog a couple years back."

Arthur laughed a little.

"That's all? Here I was thinking you'd gotten into some crazy bar fight or sumthin'. We gotta think of a better story for those."

But when John gave the older man a deathly cold glare, he realized he'd stepped out of bounds.

"That ain't the whole story."

Arthur kept his mouth shut then as John propped his face up on one hand, staring off in another direction again.

"Had a… boyfriend, I guess. Were foolin' around at his place when his roommate walked in. Guess he didn't know his buddy was gay because he freaked out and sicked his dog on me. Apparently the guy was a cop and the dog was his partner."

Arthur felt his eyes widen and his chest start to grow tight, while John just shrugged his shoulders apathetically.

"Managed to get away and bolted out through the window. I could hear them yelling as I ran but I didn't bother looking back. Never saw the boy toy again, and I haven't exactly had any… committed relationships since then."

Arthur couldn't believe what he was hearing.

Well, no, he  _ did _ believe it, but he hated having to acknowledge that there were still people like that in this modern age.

People who couldn't handle another form of love, just because it might have been different from theirs- so much so that they became violent when that same love dared to stray into their line of sight.

It was despicable, and at that moment Arthur would have given anything to go back in time and have that dog chew on him instead of John.

He swallowed hard before hesitantly reaching out and placing his hand on top of the younger man's.

"I'm… I'm sorry, John. I'm so sorry. That's… That's horrendous, what happened to you. And… I'm sorry for that dumb shit I said."

John's gaze drifted down to their hands then. He gingerly pulled his back and moved to interlace their fingers together instead.

"It's fine."

"It's  _ not _ fine!"

John looked up with a start at Arthur suddenly raising his voice out of nowhere.

Once the older man became acutely aware of how unintentionally loud he'd just gotten, he sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose as he closed his eyes.

"Sorry, sorry. It's…"

"No, no… I get it."

John cracked a small smile and gave Arthur's hand a gentle squeeze.

"It's… It's actually kinda nice to hear you say that. I've… never told anyone what  _ really _ happened before, honestly. Just… made up some bullshit."

Arthur opened his eyes back up and glanced at the other man across from him, not quite feeling like saying anything else.

Eventually, John spoke up again as he nudged Arthur's tray closer to him.

"Hey, eat your food. It's gonna get cold."

**Author's Note:**

> dw this ends on a dour note but the whole next section is fluff i promise
> 
> i realize having johns scars be the result of a k-9 unit might be too dramu, but generally whenever i think of how hed get his scars in a modern au i think of a dog attack. and... i love dogs, so i didnt want it to just be like. unprovoked. so. ACAB.
> 
> title is from the song petite mort by bad books and frankly im not quite sure i know what it means either


End file.
